The American Angus Association® launched the Future Angus Stockmen program to encourage the next generation of commercial cattle producers. This program awards a $1,000 scholarship annually thanks to support from Allflex.

Wharton is a freshman at Texas Tech University studying animal science with an emphasis in production. She fell in love with the beef industry as a young girl with her first Angus bucket calf and now aspires to become a beef producer.

Wharton has served as treasurer, vice president and president in her county 4-H program and has taken grand champion accolades in beef, sheep, horse and photography projects. During her 4-H and FFA careers, Wharton has learned the value of utilizing high quality Angus genetics.

"Using genetics on the ranch is important because the cattle have to fit their environment while producing the product that the consumer wants," Wharton says.

Future Angus Stockmen participants can enroll each year and take advantage of Association programs such as the Beef Records Service (BRS), MaternalPlus®, AngusSource® or AngusSource Genetic at a reduced cost. Future Angus Stockmen also receive incentives for genomic testing.